Reality Bites (Warriors 97, Lakers 130)

The problem Saturday night wasn’t that the Warriors lost to the Lakers — that was a very safe pick — but how the team lost. There were far too many moments recalling the pre-trade Warriors: quick jumpers, little ball movement, matador defense, and a dazed look of a team not sure whether it’s coming or going. The sense of resolute determination of Smart’s six seemed to disappear when the rotation expanded to ten. The Warriors had more players available Saturday night, but they seemed to be getting less from them. The Lakers’ excellent defense deserves a lot of credit, but not 33-point-home-loss credit. The Warriors showed progress in the last few weeks, but they still have a long way to go before they hit respectability.

I’m not going to dedicate too much hand-wringing to this loss since the Lakers fit the exact profile of a team built to give the Warriors fits. They have a big, offensively gifted guard. They have three big players capable of rebounding and scoring around the basket. They were the best in the NBA last year, and to my eyes they’ve only gotten better. If the Warriors wanted a good test of where they stand, they got one courtesy of Kobe, Pau, and company. Here’s what jumped out:

Monta Meets His Match — Ellis didn’t have a bad game Saturday, but it was a game with far more in common with his pre-trade performances than his breakout efforts last week. When the Lakers denied him penetration early in the game, he seemed content for long stretches to settle for jump shots. He made some nice passes, but also rushed some shots without looking around for other options — Morrow in particular. There are going to be teams capable of denying Ellis easy access to the rim. If he’s going to become the player we saw last week regardless of the opponent, he needs to learn when to attack, when to work the mid-range jumper, and when to look for his teammates. When everything was rolling — against the Mavs in particular — Ellis seemed to find the right balance. When stymied early by the Lakers, however, he started to look more like the one-dimensional scorer of this year’s first ten games. Progress is rarely linear, so I’m not concerned with Ellis taking a few steps back — he just needs to learn from the challenges.

The Vets Return — With Maggette, Watson and now Turiaf returning the action, the Warriors are no longer searching for D-Leaguers to get them over the league minimum. But with extra bodies in the mix, it’s once again unclear how Anthony Morrow and Anthony Randolph fit into this team’s future plans. The young players have looked their best when they’ve had some predictable role. Sadly, that predictability only arrived when the coaches were left with no other option due to injuries. As the injuries have healed, we’ve seen a drop off in both players’ performance. The youngsters shouldn’t just be given minutes without earning them, but the coaching staff and players need to find a way to get every night the focus and energy Morrow and Randolph have shown in the games when they know they’re assured big minutes. It’s fine to say that Morrow and Randolph should be ready whenever the coach calls their numbers, but the reality is they might play better — and learn more — if they have specific, predictable roles in the Warriors’ larger system. Of course, that would require a larger system in the first place — and with Smart keeping Nelson’s seat warm it doesn’t look like he’s doing much veer from his boss’ general approach.

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Defense — One of the bright spots of the game was generally solid post defense from Chris Hunter. Although Turiaf is a big body capable of blocking shots, he doesn’t do that much to push guys off the block. Hunter actually fights to relocate people — which is refreshing — and shows a fair amount of shot-blocking activity. As the Warriors continue to bleed points to big men with any sort of offensive game, Hunter should be in the mix as one piece capable of helping the team improve. But the change can’t stop there. Stephen Curry and CJ Watson were repeatedly abused by the Lakers’ smaller players — Fisher, Brown, and Farmar. Watson’s defensive struggles are no surprise given what we saw last year, but Curry had looked better over the last few games. The rookie’s struggles Saturday were a reminder that he has a long way to go before he can be a two-way threat in the NBA. As we’ve seen with Ellis this past week, however, it can pay to be patient.

When the wins against the Mavs and Blazers are stacked against this loss, you’re left with glimpses of two very different teams. The team from the wins pushes the tempo, plays aggressive defense, and makes sure all of its offensive players get touches. The team from Saturday’s loss settled for the Lakers’ tempo, was overpowered on defense, and leaned too heavily on one offensive threat. For the Warriors to move to the next level, they’ll have to find a way to dictate their style of play, rather than simply respond to what opponents give them. The Mavs and Blazers — and plenty of other opponents — will let the Warriors play their preferred style of basketball. But the Lakers — and the other teams the Warriors will need to beat if they ever have ambitions beyond the first round — won’t.

Adam Lauridsen

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Guess now we’ll see just how much of this team Ellis is…. No Randolph, Biedrins, Ellis, their go-to guy is ….Maggette?

monsta

Ah, Curse. Good to see you. You had something beautiful in here earlier, I have to scroll back

The giraffe! Giraffe head bobbing on the Serengeti.

Whoa! CJ, nice move!

monsta

Amazing how often that Maggette-dive-up-into-traffic move works.

CURSE OF MULLIN

Giraffe rolled his ankle tonight. Too bad, he was playing well.

Hunter is better than alot of big men in the NBA and a few who start. He’s big and strong, hustles, has good hands (slow feet). Important add for the Warriors. We have to keep him.

We’re lucky CJ was hot tonight.

CURSE OF MULLIN

Monta continuing to swim in the DWade end of the pool.

monsta

Beautiful to watch. Like a basket-seeking rocket locked onto the target. When he got to 43, you could tell he was thinking 50.

monsta

Is TJ Ford more annoying than Devin Harris?

Arvid

BG145,
I was comparing Morrow to Miller in their rookie years. You can compare that, and Miller had no “intangibles” going for him then; he was feeling his way around the league like any other rookie. On that basis, guess what, Morrow was better.
Will he become better in the end, career-wise? who knows…but I like his start.
And again, if you think he can only hit an open jumper, you haven’t been paying attention. I mentioned the other ways he has scored this year, and it seems bit by bit that will expand. On top of all that, the kid can rebound…something this team has always needed to get better at (and he measures up favorably to JRich in his rookie year as far as rebounding goes, which ain’t bad!).
Assuming that his teamates look for him and the future coaching staffs devise ways for the team to get him open looks, the sky’s the limit for that hard working man.
So glad he’s a Warrior.

Tonight was the first time I ever saw Morrow catch and shoot in almost one fluid motion… He caught with his right side and just went up for the shot, and swoosh! He needs to keep doing more of that and I hope Curry and the others review the film tonight to see that shot – first time I’ve observed AM do that. Other shots, when he gets it on his left side, he tends to set first and then fires away… not a fluid motion. He needs to learn how to catch and shoot instatly… and I believe he will get it as the defense are reacting much quicker to him nowadays.

AR needs to learn the “calm/steady” inside moves that Hunter already posses. Still, he’s got a long ways to go on a go-to move underneath… more pratice! & more pt! AR is stubborn or an airhead… or just isn’t ready – maybe 2-3 years from now. Meanwhile, more pt is good for the learning.

Curry needs to go see a phsychiatrist for a lobotomy of some sort – he’s just like Monta was a few years ago, shooting-wise.

Team work is what the season is about…

BG

Arvid@158

You make great points. I never said I did not like Morrows game. I said lets not compare him to Reggie Miller quite yet. If you want to compare their Rookie years, that’s fine. All I’m saying is Reggie Miller had A “Killer” Instinct not many players have. And yes, I have noticed AM is working on other aspects to his game. He does try to get to the hole a lot more than last season.

I’m glad he’s a Warrior too!

Ededdeddy

Is this bad luck or what? Dude, AR will be out for a couple of weeks?

CURSE OF MULLIN

Smart did a nice job tonight not letting his young team push the panic button. He’s a better coach than Nellie at this point bc his substitutions during the game make a lot more sense and he’s much more engaged with his players than Nellie. Tomorrow night’s game will be interesting. No Randolph, which will hurt. Perhaps Bad Rad can go back to being Vlad Rad? He better if he’s going to guard Melo. I can’t wait to see Billups try to guard Monta.

Ededdeddy

I can’t wait to see if Chris Hunter will get some burn.
Got to be. Mile high is a killer.